Moving Day: Phase 3

We did it. We are finally as unpacked as we are going to be able to until (most likely) after the holidays. We have some empty rooms, just waiting to be furnished and decorated, some rooms with our trusty old apartment furniture, and some rooms that have a start to being exactly what we wanted. I feel like leaving you all with a teaser of just some pictures of the rooms empty… as it’s going to be such an amazing experience starting from scratch to decorate!

Why after the holidays? Well, mainly because we are being very cost-conscious due to our annual visit to Los Angeles for the Didi Hirsch Alive and Running 5k, as well as travelling back to California for Christmas.

When we started off on our moving journey, we decided we weren’t going to move in the summer because summers where we were at reached over 100°F on the regular, and that was going to be really uncomfortable. FAIL. We moved in the heat of July/August. Chris had done many applications and had several interviews and job offers, but none were exactly what he was looking for. We were patient, if it wasn’t meant to be, it was not going to be. We decided to stop looking and we would wait until after the new year to start our search again. But then he got the assessment tests and calls for a job he really wanted, but wasn’t sure if they were going to want someone like him. They wanted someone EXACTLY like him and thus, the process began.

I won’t pretend like our decision was made lightly. We made a few visits to the area, got to know a few people who lived here, and got an idea of the change of pace we should be expecting. We talked to people who had relocated here and to people who were born and raised here. We researched neighborhoods and schools for Bug, activities to do in rain or shine while she’s still little, and what a work/life balance was really going to be like. We fell in love with every bit of it. We knew leaving California was going to be an undertaking, and we prepared for just about every scenario. We felt confident in our choice and ready for this amazing new adventure.

We kept reminding ourselves that we can take our time, we don’t have to be unloaded as fast as we loaded, so we took two whole weeks to get the unpacking job done. It’s kind of eerie to realize we don’t have anything we really have to do until the end of September (the 5k is on September 30th and we are going to just fly out the night before). I’m so used to having these jam-packed schedules and deadlines to hit. My dabbling as a stay-at-home-mom is really forcing me to change a lot of what I’ve always done my adult life. And I like it.

Slow down. Take a moment to yourself and don’t feel bad about it. Smile and say “hi” to your neighbor. Remember that the velociraptor-like scream that your toddler discovered she could do in a room that echoes is just a phase. She’s learning, too.